Maria and Andrew

How We Met

I was about to leave for my first semester of college at Texas A&M University. In order to save up some money before I left, my sister got me a job as a waitress at the bar and grill where she was working. One night, while I was there the bartender on duty, calls me over and casually says “Hey, you know who thinks you’re cute? Andrew.” I had no idea who this Andrew was and brushed it off as just another guy trying to hit on his waitress. Sure enough, later that same night, a man walked up to me and introduced himself as Andrew. I shook his hand and thought nothing of it. He asked me why a pretty girl like me would be working at a bar and grill, and I told him I was saving money for college. With that, he walked away.

Over the next couple of weeks, he began to come around more and more. He would always crack so many jokes and I found myself laughing whenever I was around him. This was the first thing that attracted me to him. So, when he finally summoned the courage to ask for my phone number, I gave it to him. We only got the chance to go out for dinner one time, and shortly after I went away to school. Even though we tried to keep in touch, after a short while I found myself not answering his emails or calls as often, as I was trying to keep up with schoolwork and other tasks. By the time winter came around, we no longer spoke or wrote to each other.

Fast forward two years. I was again home for summer break before having to head back for my junior year of college. My sister had now become a manager at that same bar, and she asked if I wanted to work there for the summer. On the very first night back, in walks Andrew. After not having seen him for almost two years, I got this funny feeling in my stomach. We hugged and spent most of the night catching up and talking. By the end of the night, we had agreed to meet up for a movie date. This was in in June of 2010, and we have been inseparable ever since.

How He Asked

Summer 2017 was a very eventful one. I was graduating nursing school, attending my nursing pinning ceremony, and starting a new job at a big Dallas hospital all in the span of one month. Andrew and I decided that we wanted to celebrate, and booked a trip to our favorite island of Puerto Rico. We had been to the island before and this time knew all the great places to go. It was such a beautiful night, and we started it by having dinner at our favorite beachfront restaurant, Oceano. We had a delicious dinner, then decided to walk back to our hotel on the beach.

Andrew kept insisting that we go out to the beach, and I kept saying no. We went back to our room to freshen up before going out on the town. After leaving our room, we sat at the hotel bar and had a drink. Again, Andrew insisted that we go out to the beach before heading out for the night. I finally gave in, since he had been asking to go out on to the beach all night.

We walked out into the night air and stared out into the ocean. Andrew was standing behind me, and it really was the perfect moment. Suddenly, he moves to my left side, then turns me to face him. He then got on one knee, and I immediately knew what was happening. I began to cry as he launched into his proposal and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I said yes!